It sits in the family

by Flagarach

Though luck, will and sheer determination Kusanagi Shizuka managed to slay a deity, becoming the eighth godslayer in the process. Now she is forced to deal with mages, heretic gods and fellow Campione. But most importantly, can she keep her new-found powers a secret from her totally not also a Campione brother?

13. Arc 4-4:

Now that the movie is finally at the mid-point there is a small break for everyone to refresh themselves. Shizuka and her friends stand up, wanting to take a small stroll to get rid of the ach in their legs. That, and maybe they can order some more food. Shizuka has enough money left to buy at least two more bags of popcorn, enough food to satisfy all. As the quartet stand in the food queue they are giving their opinion about the movie.

"I can't believe how great this movie is!" Yui exclaims, barely able to hide her joy. She really seems to enjoy everything she just saw.

"Yeah, I agree, Yui." Miki joins in on the conversation, agreeing with Yui's point. "The story, the battles, it's hard to find any flaws in it. It's the perfect superhero story."

"I will join you on the point that it is a good movie, but isn't calling it perfect a bit overrated?" Shizuka has a more dampened opinion, as she finds the movie… okay. Perhaps it's because she's actually part of the movie, and therefore has a completely different view from her friends.

Yeah, that might be it. Perhaps it's because she personally knows the difference between the smooth Gabriel on the screen and mister Reynolds playing him. Or perhaps it's the fact that she already knows the story, and is aware of everything that's going to happen so there's no suspense. Or perhaps, and this is by far the most likely explanation, she simply gets annoyed whenever either Bacchus or Shizuka's actor gets on the screen. No offense to miss Fukuhara, who does a great job as an actor, but there's something slightly embarrassing about seeing the past actions of yourself.

The other three look at Shizuka as if they have seen a ghost. Even a few onlookers seem to give Shizuka the same look, as if they too cannot believe that someone would rate this movie as less than perfect. Shizuka simply stares them down, waiting for them to either say something or leave.

"It's not overrated at all! Here, tell me one thing that was not perfect. Just one thing that you dislike." Kuniko challenges her friend, and Shizuka knows at least a few possibilities: The intro's too long, the connective arc between different sections is a bit loose, and the break is a bit early. Knowing the whole movie Shizuka would've put that break at least one scene later. However, deciding that she would rather not cause a squabble she decides to give an entirely different answer:

"In my opinion, the movie has overly dramatized the events. I'm pretty sure that what we saw isn't even close to the real events it's based on." No, real life involved less fighting, more wine, and a horrible drunken mess that gives Shizuka the shivers every time it dredges to the shore of her sea of memories. It's horrible to even try and remember it.

The other three simply gawk at that answer, trying to comprehend what was just said. After a second or three it's Kuniko who gives a reply: "Are… are you making fun of us?"

Not really, but that is close to what Shizuka wants them to believe. Best keep the answer vague then: "Well, who knows? Even I'm not sure myself."

The other three laugh, and Shizuka joins in. They've written off the negative remark as humor, calling it just a joke amongst friends. The young king fully intends to keep it that way.

It's finally Shizuka's turn, and she orders another two bags of popcorn, this time in the more ordinary flavors of salty and honey sweet. There's not enough money left for very special things, and with a stomach half-filled it's better to use monotone but strong tastes instead of varied amalgamations.

"Shizuka, we do need to thank your brother afterwards." Miki brings up that they are spending Godou's money, something Shizuka acknowledges. She would have preferred it if he managed to come here with his friends instead of his girls, but it's still someone else's money. At least a thank you for following through with the bet is needed.

Thinking about Godou, Shizuka wonders a bit about how her brother is doing…

"This movie is amazing!" On the other side of the movie theatre is Godou's group, where Ena cannot help but express her amazement of what she just watched. "The battles, the explosions… even though it's quite a lot like watching your majesty battle Ena is completely captivated by this!"

"Eh, really? I do agree that it's good, yes, but to call it amazing…" Godou on the other hand is a lot less awestruck. It's a fun movie to watch, but nothing that should win an Oscar or so. For him this is just another movie, a dime in a dozen.

"No, I have to agree with Ena here." Erica tries to appear demure, but those who know her longer like Liliana can see that she is hiding her own joy. "It doesn't happen often that I, Erica Blandelli, enjoyed a piece of entertainment this much."

"Even though superhero movies are not my genre, I must agree that this is perhaps the pinnacle of all those movies. It's a masterpiece."

With Liliana backing up Ena's claim too there seems to be enough evidence to tell of the greatness of this movie. "See, your majesty? Why don't we go around and ask everyone what they think of the movie? I'm willing to bet that we'll only find positives."

"There's no need to bother other people with these questions, Seishuuin." Godou calms Ena down a bit, before including the last member in the group into the conversation: "Say Mariya, how do you like the movie?"

"I… It's a truly wonderful movie." Mariya is left speechless, and Godou is left to wonder. Why does everyone like this movie so much? It's good, yes, but nothing to make such comments about. Is he misunderstanding something, or is it just that as a king these superheroes do not fulfil his fantasies? Hmm…

As Godou continues to ponder about this a boy passes before his face, covered in a shadow of obstinacy and arrogance. However, that shadow disappeared the moment he notices Godou:

"If it isn't my honoured uncle!" He bows lightly and clasps his right palm around his left fist, the standard salute amongst martial artists. There is only one person in the world to call Kusanagi Godou 'Honored Uncle': Lu Yinghua, The personal disciple of the demonic cult leader Luo Cuilian.

"Yinghua!" Godou shouts out the name of his acquaintance, surprised to see him here. However, that's not the only person he sees that's here. Accompanying the young prodigy is another person Godou knows, the androgynous hime-miko: "And Kaoru-san too! What are you two doing here?"

"Most likely the same thing as you all are doing, Godou-kun." The Sayanomiya heir holds up a pair of movie tickets, clearly for the same movie as the rest. "Though these aren't exactly mine."

"In other words, her eminence has declined use of her own tickets?" Erica also joins in the conversation, much to the dismay of Yinghua.

"Well, that's true." However, Lu won't break face in front of the man he respects. Politely he answers Erica, speaking openly and without annoyance. "Although it's not so much 'declined' as it is 'never found out'. If master were to ever go to these movies it could be become cataclysmic enough to lead to the demise of the entire movie industry." Yinghua shudders at the thought, and all the others are perfectly aware that that was not an exaggeration. Really, Godou's sworn sister is ridiculous in all aspects.

"Anyway, are you two enjoying the movie?" Godou wants to return the conversation to something more basic, and simply starts to ask about the movie itself. Kaoru agrees with the other girls on this matter, though Yinghua goes the other direction:

"While I cannot call this movie bad, I would recommend to take a guarded approach to this movie." Lu gives a cryptic answer that no one else understands. "Though in your case, honoured uncle, I doubt you need it."

What the martial artist is hinting at is that this is not just a mere mortal movie. This is one created by a god, after all. There is some subliminal magic hidden within, subtly brainwashing the viewer to like this movie. It wouldn't be a surprise if the same kind of tampering has been done with other movies involving Bacchus.

The only people immune to this effect are the Campione and mages who have prepared themselves beforehand. Unlike Godou's entourage who apply magic when needed, Yinghua's many ordeals taught him to always keep his guard up, even in a cinema like this. As a result, he's the only one to notice this phenomenon happening.

Young Lu is not interested in sharing this knowledge for the sake of the girls, so he simply waves goodbye, saying that the movie is about to start. Everyone follows him and go back to their seats, where the next part of the movie starts:

-x-

The movie restarts in a fancy restaurant, where the camera moves through the entrance into a grand hall, going up a fancy staircase with a balcony overseeing the previous hall and into a large dining room. It's filled with tables for groups of two to eight persons, intended to serve as quite the luxurious dining hall.

It's also the place where Gabriel Bishop and Anna Greyce are spending their surveillance together. The starter has just arrived, and the duo starts to enjoy the food while still vigilantly looking out for enemies.

After a few bites of the food Gabriel reopens the conversation with some small talk, asking how the food tastes. Anna replies that her scallop siu mai {1} taste good, and by returning the question she learns that he also enjoys his tartar of sea perch.

"To be fair, I didn't expect myself to sit in a restaurant like this." Anna is still somewhat surprised with the location; it's something Gabriel can fully understand considering how luxurious this restaurant is.

"Well, I've got a few contacts here and there, so getting a spot like this is quite easy." It's good to be a king, baby! "It has good food and even greater service. There isn't a thing I dislike about this place."

"Talking about this place, why are we here?" The one problem that Anna doesn't understand is how they're supposed to stay vigilant. "I don't see us covering much ground from the dinner table."

"Don't worry about it so much." With polite and friendly words he starts to explain why this seemingly improbable strategy works: These cults usually try to attack places where they can drain a lot of people, as that gives them much more mana than randomly attacking people on the streets. It's also a lot easier to disguise as a so-called "accident", like a gas leak or an explosion. Considering how full this restaurant is they might very well strike here. "And if they do strike, they'll probably do it when business is busy, like now." Gabriel speaks the last words on this subject, as he changes it to more personal topics:

"But unless we spot something bad, let's try to at least enjoy the evening. How about we learn a bit more of each other?"

Anna agrees, and quite a bit of info is shared they talk about their backgrounds, reason for joining the SSI, hobbies, all kinds of stuff like that. The tone is jovial, as both seem to enjoy each other's company. The length of their conversation has to be at least several minutes, and it seems to go on forever. It is only after Gabriel finishes talking about a recent adventure that he tries to be a bit more romantic:

"You know, I really like this: the two of us chatting away about life, and having fun together. It's a fantastic miracle that we ended up meeting each other."

"Yes, I agree. This is kind of fun talking to you. Yeah, I'm also glad to have a friend like you." While Anna speaks these words sincerely without ill intent, for Gabriel they have an entirely different meaning: Bacchus was right, and he just got friendzoned. Shit.

Okay, how to solve this situation? It's not easy to get out of the friendzone, but it should still be possible. It's a difficulty that quick wit and smart thinking should be able to overcome! Perhaps change your own interests a bit? Maybe find a way to make yourself look better? Maybe she's interested in knowing John Pluto Smith's secret identity. Hmm…

Gabriels heavy pondering is accompanied with a sudden bright green mist hangs inside the building, which hinders the visibility. The people who inhale it start coughing, before falling unconscious. Anna and Gabriel quickly realize this must be the work of an enemy mage, and cast magic on themselves to stay unaffected.

Footsteps are head from the direction of the main entrance of the restaurant. A smaller number of steps can be heard from the direction of the kitchen. Most likely these people are cultists, who have created this mist to obtain sacrifices for their wicked practices!

Gabriel takes command of the only ally he has: Anna. Not wanting to immediately blow his cover, he comes up with a plan where the duo will perform a surprise attack on these people. Gabriel will take down the larger group coming from the entrance, while Anna will take down the backup group in the kitchen.

Anna nods, and they both go their way to deal with their own group of enemies.

Gabriel moves under the cover of the mist to search for the enemy. Keeping his cover he stays undetected, peeking over the balcony to see a group of five robed figures trying to silence whomever did not fall unconscious.

Even if Gabriel is a king, he does not need to flaunt his power. Instead he chooses to take these heroes down stealthily. Next to him is a fire hose that he can utilize. He unrolls the 25-meter-long pipe and enchants it with magic words. That chant makes the pipe move as if it were a snake, slithering over the ground and off the balcony's edge. The nozzle dangles down, searching for pray, and eventually wraps itself around the ankle of one of the robed figures.

A few hand gestures make the hose start rolling up again, dragging the poor mage with it. With only a single yelp the robed figure finds himself dangling in the air, being lifted in the air. Eventually he's dragged onto the second floor, knocking his head against the railing. Dazedly he tries to stand up, but finds his body still uncoordinated from the blow.

"Need some help?" A hand is extended to him, and he gratefully accepts. Looking up at his savior he sees Gabriel there, his other hand raised in a fist. That hand comes straight for the mage's face, knocking him out cold.

One down, four to go.

The other four suddenly wonder where their fifth member has gone, as they whisper the name Adam around to find him. After a short search the rest decide to ditch him, entering an elevator to the second floor.

The four enter the elevator, and calming music begins to play. It's completely dissonant from the fact that a pair of hands come down from the escape hatch and take away the man standing the furthest back.

Only three leave the elevator, now realizing that something is completely wrong. The trio form a defensive circle, looking out for any suspicious behavior. They need to find just who the hell did this to them before he can do it to another member of the group.

Unfortunately for them one mage was not smart enough to stay away from the railing, and this one finds Gabriel pulling him over the ledge. The enemy party dwindles to two, as panic starts to spread among the remaining mages.

The less fearful one tries to take the lead, urging the other to follow him as they search together for the other group. The leader takes a corner to the left, and after some consideration the meeker mage follows. However, instead of finding his friend there is just an empty cloak lying on the ground.

The mage cannot take it anymore and flees from the premise, too scared to even try and fight the enemy. He runs away screaming, constantly looking back if whatever crazy being that made his teammates disappear is still there.

He runs, and runs, until he runs into something solid that prevents him from running. Now looking at what is in front of him he sees that he has run into an army of goblins. They're all dressed in leather armour and wield large wooden clubs, something that clearly does not belong in a restaurant. On second glance, the surroundings seem completely different from before, belonging more to the fairy realm. The blue portal he entered through closes, as he lets out a final scream before the group clobbers him.

Anna meanwhile encounters a group of three, of which the first gets quickly knocked out with a kick to the face. The other two now notice the newcomer.

"O deft one with both hands, grant weapons upon your servants!" Both cultists speak these spell words at the same time. One of them suddenly wields a silver hammer, while the other wields an ebon scythe. With these weapons the duo attack, coordinating their attacks to defeat this woman.

Anna dodges the first swing of the hammer, using martial arts to parry. The swipe of the scythe gets dodged by a simple jump backwards, giving her the time to pull out her own weapon: A standard pistol, often seen used by the police. Shooting a bullet or two at the hammer wielder allows her to focus on the scythe user, who is swinging at her while chanting a spell of his own:

"The ushering of darkness, the coming of destruction; may our lord curse all who stand in the light!" A bolt of darkness shoots at Anna, which will probably have some harmful effect on her.

"Repay them for their deeds, and for their evil works." A white glow surrounds Anna, getting brighter the more spell words she speaks. "Repay them for what their hands have done, and bring back on them what they deserve." The darkness connects with the light around Anna, and suddenly changes direction towards the mage who cast the spell.

A spell of reflection, it can redirect magic spells of evil nature back at their casters. The only problem with it is that the protection only lasts for a few seconds, so it needs to be timed correctly.

This time it did work. The spell flies right back at the evil mage giving him a sudden hole in the stomach. He looks once at his missing body part before dropping dead on the floor.

"You bastard! You'll pay for what you did to my friend!" The last cultist speaks spell words of wind, empowering his hammer to cause gusts of wind to flow around it. With increased speed he swings the hammer around, forcing Anna to go on the defensive. She weaves her body around the strikes of the hammer, but every blow comes closer and closer. One misstep spells doom, as the hammer is now coming straight at Anna's head!

With great effort does Anna get her gun between herself and the hammer, allowing for a magic spell of her own: "Eye for an eye, tooth for an tooth! Great goddess of equality, Aequitas {2}, may the accused pay his dues in full!"

As the pistol shatters under the weight of the blow so too does the cultist's hammer. Now with both weapons gone Anna has the overwhelming advantage in martial arts, so she throws her enemy into a nearby wall.

Half-dazed the mook calls for back-up from the other group, but there's no response. Nobody is answering his call. Now realizing that the situation is turning badly for the cultists, he decides to simply go out in a suicidal act of revenge: "I may not be able to survive, but I will take down as many of you blasted mages as I can!"

He gathers energy, forming a magic runic circle in the air. Speaking the spell-words of self-destruction, he gives a final spell to kill: "Be faithful until death, and I shall give thee a crown of life! O skillful and wise, grant upon thy servant one final creation. For the sake of exterminating those who oppose me, one shall discard even his life!"

A large wooden stake shimmers into existence, crackling with electricity, and shoots out at Anna to pierce and electrocute her. She knows it, that if she does so much as touch that attack she will die.

"Oh earth, protect this maiden, deny all harm from those that are evil!" Spell words that cause an earthen wall to rise, a last defense against this power. The cultist shoots his spear, before falling to the ground in exhaustion. This attack probably shaved a few years off his life, but it's worth it if it helps those who serve his god.

The earthen wall only holds for a second or two before shattering, leaving Anna nothing to defend herself with. She closes her eyes and reflexively tries to use her hands to block, but it will be useless. Silently she awaits her doom…

…but when after several seconds her demise hasn't come, she opens her eyes in confusion. Looking ahead of her is Gabriel, calmly holding the electric stake in his hand. There seems to be no pain or any other problem, something that should be impossible for a normal mage.

"Y-You… how are you… what are you?" The cultist too almost screams in confusion, as he simply points in fear as Gabriel. The king obviously has an answer for that, but instead of playfulness he speaks with a stern and angry voice:

"Isn't it obvious? I'm the one the gods fear, for I can slay their kin; I'm revered by the people, for I protect this city from all who do harm; You may know me as John Pluto Smith, fifth Campione and king of Los Angeles… and I know you as the human who tried to kill the woman I love." Smith reverses the stake, now aiming the tip at the cultist himself. "Any last words?"

"Ah…aaah…Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" The cultist screams in fear and tries to run away, but it's no use. Smith throws the stake like a javelin, slamming in the heart of the enemy and throwing him through the wall. He's dead for sure.

Anna looks at her rescuer, and walks up to him. "That… was very sweet of you, your majesty." Spoken with reverence, as she now realizes just who she had for a date. "I thank you for your rescue of me."

Gabriel grabs Anna, as his clothes change into that of John Pluto Smith, minus the helmet. "Anna, there's no need for you to speak with such reference. Sure, I'm the ruler of this entire city, and great enough to conquer the rest of the country. But you are the ruler of my heart, and great enough to conquer the rest of me. I truly love you, Anna."

"Gabe…" After Anna speaks these words Smith pulls her even closer to him. Lowering his head he kisses her, holding her tightly while doing so.

Anna returns the feeling, and kisses him back. With both arms she grabs him behind the shoulders, forcing him to continue kissing.

The screen pans out through the window, where the night sky changes to the headquarters of the SSI, into the office of the old professor. Here Smith gets a verbal lashing from his old teacher Leonard Easthold, who is reviewing just what exactly mister Bishop did last night. He reads through a few files, but his expression stays sour. He turns to Gabriel, starting to review the king's actions from last night:

"As far as I can see, you managed to save a restaurant from being used as resources by a bunch of cultists. For that part, I have to say well done." Gabriel tries to turn the situation lighter cracking a smile and talking about how he's stopped the cult from gathering more power, thus giving them more time.

The old professor agrees, but he does have a few words of warning: "However, the reason I called you here was not to congratulate you. If John Pluto Smith had saved a restaurant from the cult, I would only have praise. In this case, on the other hand, I have no respect for Gabriel Bishop who did the same action."

"Eh, that's mere semantics. Does it matter which form of me obtained victory?"

"Yes!" What one waves away is very important for the other. "John Pluto Smith is a mystery, something that installs fear in the hearts of evil. Gabriel Bishop is just a mage of the SSI, and one who could get his cover blown. If you handled yesterday like you handle rescues as Smith you might've doomed us all."

"Then what's the difference, because I don't see it."

"These cultists don't take revenge against a king. They will take revenge against a mage. If word spreads out that Gabriel Bishop managed to defeat a group of their cultists they will specifically go after you."

"And how is that bad?" Gabriel leans back in his chair, still acting nonchalantly. "If they want to try, let them! It's not that they will succeed against a godslayer."

Professor Easthold is almost facepalming, that he does not realize the true danger. "And what if they can't? They will then take revenge by proxy, and target anyone close to you. Everyone in this entire office can be killed because of your reckless actions!"

The voice of the professor is raised, and Gabriel follows suit. "Well, when will that happen? This cult has, like, a day or two left in existence before it's taken down! When do these people have the time to take revenge?"

"Revenge can be done in minutes. Everyone's lives are in peril until we destroy that cult!"

"They'll attack me, yes. However, they don't have enough time to strike down both me and everyone around me. They'll just attack the one who destroyed their forces."

"Correct. However, will they attack just the one? Wasn't the number of people who saved the restaurant two?"

Gabriel's face turns blank, a he realizes what his professor is saying. "Anna!" Leonard nods, and tells him that the reckless actions of Gabriel have endangered her.

"But as long as all the cultists are dead and there are no escapees, she should be fine. You did take care of them all, right?"

Gabriel gulps as he realizes he might've kept a few of the first group alive out of lax arrogance, and perhaps they may have seen him and Anna kill the last member of the kitchen group. A gunshot close-by tells him that he might've made a mistake. Looking outside of the window he sees that there's someone bleeding on the ground.

Nonono, this can't be happening! Quickly Gabriel rushes out of the office, moving down to the place of the incident.

Using his authority over the realm of fairies he managed to get outside almost immediately. As one of the first he has seen the face of the victim, struck with grief as he mutters out her name. "Anna…"

What has he done?

-x-

The current state of America's hero could only be called pathetic. In his rage at the death of his girlfriend, he sought solace in the most common refuge:

Alcohol.

Gabriel has grabbed the bottle, drinking away his problems. Two bottles already stand on the bar he's sitting at, and if this continues there will follow many more.

It's a common run-down bar, where you would only see the scum of the earth. It's an uncommon place for a king, and the one who enters now is even less expected:

There stands Bacchus, who switched back to his purple toga. He enters the bar, quickly seeing his friend there. With pleased steps he walks to him, wanting to tell him good news he received:

"Hey buddy, guess what? We discovered the hole of those bastards who stole our energy. Get up, we can finally get our revenge!"

Mister buddy does not respond, still with his hands grabbing the bottle. He takes a new swig, ignoring what was said by his friend.

"C'mon, get up! We've got no time to waste on drinking when we can be plotting sweet revenge!"

"Get away!" Smith lazily swings his arm backwards, not bothering to even try and hurt Bacchus. The god looks up at his friend, and sees that his eyes are a hazy and his stance unstable.

"Ehm, Smith, are you… oh my me, you're drunk, aren't you?" Leave it to the expert to recognizes someone else being drunk. Bacchus has seen it far too often in his own subjects. While he doesn't mind people being intoxicated this is one time where he prefers to see someone sober. "Seriously, why are you drinking? We're supposed to party after we win against evil, not before!"

"Do I look like I give a fuck?" Gabriel starts to swear, his ability to make his usual fluent and exquisite language somewhat hampered by the alcohol.

Bacchus sighs, as he confirms that his partner is intoxicated. "Well, I do expect you to give at least a few. You know, evil cult, guys trying to summon a god that will destroy your city? I expect you to at least care a bit, y'know."

"Care for who? The one I love is dead! I've just lost my true love!"

"A true love you've known for slightly more than a week." Bacchus is not buying this bullshit, and tries to talk reason into his friend. Perhaps he'll listen, and some hope can shine through the madness of alcohol.

"It was true love at first sight!" Gabriel's body language is exaggerated, and he's stumbling a bit with every sentence he speaks. He's now stands in Bacchus' face, trying to intimidate his friend by invading his personal space. Bacchus is unimpressed, and calmly replies with a bit of snark:

"Sure, if you think so. What I think is that's you're overly dramatic. Perhaps I'm speaking for everyone but you, but how about you forget about that human girl, get out there, and kick ass? Nobody cares about what happened to your missy."

A surprise attack from Gabriel causes Bacchus to receive a bottle right in the jaw. The god stumbles a step or two backwards, but he's not visibly hurt, only mildly peeved.

The drunken king stands there with his wine bottle in hand, very much intending to strike again. Angrily he orders Bacchus to take back what he said earlier, or he would face the consequences.

The god does not care, and so the barfight begins!

Well, if you can call it a barfight. Gabriel is too drunk to fight properly, making amateurish attacks with his body and his fists that Bacchus lazily avoids. The god of wine does not care for this enough to take it seriously, so he simply deflects some attacks.

"You take that back! You take that back!" Like a mantra of madness Gabriel continues speaking these words, and the only thing empowering him at the moment. It's still doing nothing to help him win the barfight.

After a minute of playing around Bacchus gets annoyed. He's tired of this shit, and wants it to end. With a single fluid motion he throws his friend against the counter, with enough force that Gabriel topples over it and lands next to the barista. As if by miracle the wine bottle is kept intact, which is used as a crutch to stand up.

Now that the god's mood is spoiled Bacchus sees no reason to continue this charade, and starts telling it as he sees it: "Is this really you? The man I fought a strong battle with? The man who I joined with in a truce? Losing someone is tragic, yes, even a man of fun like myself knows that. However, tragedy and comedy are always intertwined in life, and you need to stand through both. If you contacted me earlier, I would've supported you through your pain as we fight together against our nemeses, and I would have been there for you."

He's now hanging his upper body over the bar to keep himself steady, but Gabriel does look clearly at Bacchus. Realizing that Bacchus' words are touching his heart he tries to give an answer. An honest and heartfelt answer from the sane depts. Inside of him that those words deserve, but before he can say something the divine rant continues:

"But no, not anymore! You're in no way the guy I became friends with! If you're like this, then you're nothing more than a pampered brat who wants everything to go his way. There is not even a shimmer of kingship left in you. Any asshole like you who can only whine needs to fuck off, so I'm going to stop that cult alone! Stick that bottle up your mouth and choke in it, because I don't give a damn about you anymore!"

Bacchus storms away, but two seconds after he left the bar he goes back in for a final word: "In fact, the way you are now you don't even deserve my gifts." Bacchus points his palm at the bar, and chants a few words that causes a small ripple of power to flow through the bar. It isn't clear on sight what it does, but the god of wine gives some explanation: "If you think that you can stay here and use my domain to forget about your sorrows then think again! Get out, and become the better you again!"

The bartender still doesn't understand what just happened, and tries to pour a new glass of wine for Gabriel. However, instead of wine some watery substance flows out of the bottle. The bartender takes a sniff and a sip, and quickly determines the problem: "My wine, it all turned into water!" He tries the same with his other beverages, but whatever he tries there is only water left in the bar.

Smith notices this change too, and after a few gulps of water he throws the bottle on the ground, shattering the glass. He slams his head against the table, angered by what happened, by what happened to him. A few seconds later he raises his head again, this time with a new glint in his eyes, a small amount of newfound determination…

-x-

Outside of an abandoned warehouse stand two guards. They're both cultists, but to keep themselves obscure they're dressed in more civilian clothes. They stand huddled together in a guard booth to bear the cold weather, discussing ordinary everyday stuff.

"So, Eric, still troubled with getting a girlfriend?" The shorter of the two teases his friend about a lack of female love in life, which the other jokingly calls off:

"O shut it, I just didn't find the right person for me yet. Being a cultist doesn't exactly do wonders for your sex life, you know?"

"True, but isn't there any cute girl inside the cult?"

"Nah, either they're crazy or they're dumb. I want some tall athletic girl with smarts to match. Is that so hard to ask?"

The shorter friend suddenly looks in the distance, where he sees what might be a lucky break. He points at this new thing, and tells his friend to look to: "How about her? She's tall and has an athletic build. Maybe if you're lucky, you might've just found your perfect wife!"

It's indeed what the guard searches for: A woman of above-average length and slender athletic build, with long blonde hair in a ponytail. She's dressed in a black fur coat, and her hands and legs both are covered in black leather. It's almost exactly what the guard looks for.

The taller guard likes the idea, so he approaches the woman. The initial response is positive, and she joins the guard for some small talk. After a minute or so he finally dares to say the most important question of his life: "But miss, I… I think I'm in love with you. Would you date m-"

And then he found a bullet in his forehead. The other guard draws his in response, but a second shot kills him too. The duo drop to the floor at the same time, leaving just the woman with her smoking gun.

She drops the gun, and much to the surprise of the audience pulls off her hair, revealing that it's a wig and underneath all the makeup is our god Bacchus! With the wig gone his clothes transform back into his purple toga, where he stands a bit disgusted over the confession, but mainly proud over what he did.

"And the other gods said that my powers over effeminacy and crossdressing were useless! That they gave me that domain out of pity because they didn't want it themselves! Ha, turns out that this is actually damn awesome!" He picks up the two assault rifles that the guards carried, carrying one in each hand. Just as he does that the alarm of the warehouse start to sign, and a rotating red light above the warehouse door starts shining.

Bacchus looks at the light, which indicates that his godly presence has been spotted. Bacchus doesn't seem miffed by it at all instead sporting a wicked smile on his face. "Guess I was never meant for the silent way to begin with." The god cocks his guns, and kicks open the door of the warehouse.

Immediately he starts firing his guns, shooting them at cultists who storm out of every corner of the building. These mages start firing an onslaught of spells, but they don't work at all against a god. Some get killed with bullets, other flee for their lives, and others keep a calm head and try to regroup before getting shot down as well.

Bacchus is well through half the warehouse, having killed more cultists then that there should be bullets in both of his guns. To be fair, he already has IDDQD. Who is to say he cannot use IDKFA as well {3}? Either way he keeps on going, continuously shredding through the warehouse like a storm of death.

However, he stops as he feels something horrible: The ritual of resurrection is almost complete! Now he sprints to the back, where he must stop this at all costs. While he runs he doesn't forget to keep gunning, and cultists keep falling like flies behind him. Kicking the final door down he sees a group of ten cultists around a magic circle like the one that drained his power, and they're almost finished chanting!

Within a second he shoots the first four down, but he realizes that he is in trouble. There's six left, and this cult will take less than a second to summon their lord. This battle is slightly in favor of the cultists, as they will summon their god.

There's nothing that Bacchus can do, so he drops his gun and lets the summoning happen. Just as he does that a black blur rushes past him, and suddenly the circle dies down as all cultists are blown through the room.

Smith looks at where the blur came from, and sees Smith there in his feline form. The godslayer is back, and he just saved the day! The king transforms back to his masked superhero form, greeting Bacchus. The two give each other a short man hug, leading to Bacchus asking how his friend is: "Smith! I thought you were still drunk off your ass! Finally decided to show up, didn't you?"

"How could a king as I not help out my friend? It took me some sobering up to realize that I need to man up, accept my mistakes, and do what I'm supposed to do! One of my stature, how could he leave his own tasks to someone else?"

Smith doesn't know why, but that water Bacchus created out of the wine was surprisingly good at sobering up a drunk person. Was this all Bacchus' plan to begin with? What a fearsome ally!

"Yes, and you really did save the day. If the energy of even one more magus was added to that circle, then even we could not stop the second coming of the [King of Flies]. Glad we stopped this cult from achieving their goal."

Smith laughs, and gives a few assuring words. "Do not worry. I have some knowledge on the dismantling of circles like these. I'll call the Sorcerous Sacrilege Investigation to send me a disposal squad, and we can clean this up like it never happened."

"And then what?" Bacchus asks. "Now that our truce has ended, you want to restart our conflict? Find out which one of use is the stronger one?"

"Perhaps it's interesting to find out which one of us beats the other in combat, but I would rather keep someone like you as my friend." Smith extends a hand of true friendship, hoping that it will be accepted. "What do you say, perhaps we can extend our truce into a true friendship? I'm certain you'll be the bringer of interesting times!"

"Heh. Indeed, I must admit that I've grown quite attached to the king of these lands." Bacchus accepts the gesture, and the duo shakes on their newfound friendship. "Well, why not? I guess I don't have anything better to do."

The duo laugh at themselves, happy that they finally managed to truly become friends. Unbeknownst to them one of the final cultists, who was blow away by Smith's [Jaguar], managed to cling on to life. Realizing that he would die from his wounds if he were ignored, and die by torture if these inhuman bastards realize he's still alive, he decides to risk it all on a gamble.

He silently crawls over the floor, back to the circle. If he can just touch it, just the smallest of touch!

Another meter he crawls, and when Smith and Bacchus are looking away he makes a final leap. He makes some sound when he lands, causing the duo to look at this lone cultist. Much to the horror of the duo the cultist managed to get his hand into magic circle, and he doesn't waste a moment to pour his own energy in.

"M'loooord! Take my poweeer!" The cultist lets out a final scream, and his body explodes. His energy is the final tipping point, providing just enough energy to allow the summoning to take place. A powerful gust starts to blow from the circle, cutting through the warehouse and turning it into debris. Smith and Bacchus put their hands before their eyes, as the wind is too much to see through. When the gales finally subdue do these two look again, and see what kind of destruction the storm brought:

The warehouse has been ruined. It has all been blown away by the summoning of the deity, the [King of Flies].

It is a giant of a man, easily over two meters in height. A white beard and moustache covering the entirety of his lower face, along with an unkempt mane on his head. A body with bulging muscles, clad in very course attire: rags, a leather cuirass and a tattered cape, but still giving airs of a majestic hunter.

"It seems these followers have managed to successfully recover my body." Spoken with laughter in his tone, he looks at the king who is standing in front of him. "Though I must say, I did not expect that they would bring me a worthwhile enemy." The god laughs, creating a small earthquake from the power. Jovial and uninhibited does he greet Smith, though it's clear that if he was displeased he would go out of control like a storm.

The name of this god is instantly known amongst some moviegoers. "Ah, that guy…" Murmuring these words to himself Godou recognizes his former foe, god-king Melqart. Back in March, when he just became a king, he was forced to fight this deity. The resulting battle ended in a draw, and he never figured out where that god flew away to. To think that this would be how he would see him again, as a caricature in a movie.

Unbeknownst to Godou this Melqart he sees is not simply a very convincing actor. The one on the screen there is the actual god, as Shizuka can attest to.

After losing his body Melqart's ectoplasm drifted through the world for some time before being found by the cult of Kothar-wa-Khasis, a blacksmith god that was a close ally of Melqart. This cult was willing to help the god restore his body, and did so in the location best suited for the gathering of magical energy: The American city of Los Angeles. Just as Japan is a net for all that drifts eastwards, so too is Los Angeles a net for all that drifts westward, like magical energy. While Bacchus and Smith were busy coming up with ideas for the movie an alert was sounded that this cult was close to summon a god. The duo sprinted to location and were just too late, leading to this scene. Realizing the potential Bacchus ordered his satyrs to film the upcoming battle, and that's where the idea for this movie comes from.

And Shizuka is kind of glad about this too. Bacchus' original plan involved the story about a king who slew Uncle Sam, and had to fight against a cult who planned to plunge the world into eternal boredom by making use of an evil heretic Elvis Presley. It would culminate in a battle which would be finished with the legendary 'Murica Punch! to blow up half a galaxy.

Words can barely describe how terrible of an idea that would've been, and Shizuka is actually glad that a god descended to keep Bacchus preoccupied with better ideas.

Back to the movie, where Smith and Bacchus are greeting this god in return. They are bummed that they couldn't stop his recovery, so now they must live with the consequences. Smith proceeds to ask a question of his own to this god: "As nice as pleasantries are, I cannot help but wonder what made us enemies. Calling someone an enemy on sight, just who could proclaim such a thing?"

"My name is Melquart, though I also like the name Baal, or Baal Hadad. I do not know how the inhabitants of this land call me, so you can use any of these names to address me." While his tone is still open, there is an underlying tone that explodes outwards, ravaging all in his path. "Not only am I a king, and the lord of the seas and storms, this Melqart is also a great hunter! When one sees prey, does he not want to hunt? Though my goal is that brat who slew Verethragna, I don't mind a little distraction. If a hunter sees a jaguar while hunting boars, will he not try to catch that prey as well?"

"Then a fight between us is inevitable, it seems." Smith has resigned himself to this fate, something that the sky god nods to. However, the king of Phoenicia does have one other question.

"Now, as for the other god here…" Melquart turns to Bacchus, now speaking jovially again. "I've got nothing against you. However, I do not approve of interference. Just stand on the side and watch me obtain victory!"

"Indeed, I'm always up for watching a good spectacle. There's nothing wrong with your offer." Bacchus takes a few steps back, before casually leaning against a pillar. Having placed himself well he gives his final answer: "But I refuse! What I, Bacchus, want now more than anything else is to talk to a guy like you who thinks he's hot shit and say no straight to his face! Besides, Smith here is my friend. I'm not casually betraying him like that!"

"Kukuku… Kukukuku!" Laughing once more, and creating another small earthquake, Melqart accepts this answer. "Very well. Then I shall take you both on! O Wind, O Rain, O Thunder! By Melqart's true name of Baal Hadad, I summon! O Storm, listen to the calls of the cloud rider, make haste and come!"

Melqart summons two clubs in his hands, one enveloped in gales and the other in lightning. His authority, as well as his connection to the cult who summoned him, he'll use it as the start for this devil king exterminating battle.

Smith goes over his authorities: 1 shot of [The Freeshooter], 4 [Transformations], and [Mastery of Faerie]. That's all he has. Of them [Mastery of Faerie] has little combat use, [Pitch-black Bird] will only be advantageous for a god of war, and one transformation is too dangerous to use, leaving him with only three good attacks. It's a little on the low side for a battle against a divine king, but it will have to do.

Luckily for Smith one transformation is already ready to use. Bacchus had killed many cultists while trying to stop Melqart's resurrection, and there lies the sacrifice for the third of Smith's authorities:

"Here I stand as the creator, the judge of life itself! My shining self is first and final, the ever-constant changer of the nurturer. Those sacrificed for my cause, find yourself granted worth by the snake that created the world! Forsake your heart, and descend as giants!"

[The Snake Chamer]. The third form of Tezcatlipoca. I shall take the bodies of those slain by another, to gain the form of the world-creating snake. Those who were sacrificed for this power shall rise with me, as giants fighting for my cause.

Smith transforms into a massive winged snake, one that must be at least fifty meters in length. Its jaw is wide enough to swallow a small house in a single bite, its scales are as dark as the night itself, and the wings are akin to those of a bat, making him look demonic in appearance. As for the mages, for every mage sacrificed a four-meter-tall humanoid comes into existence. These giants are featureless, with no face and a beige body of average build. The only noteworthy part is that there is a hole in the middle of each giant where their heart used to be, of around half a meter in diameter.

The giants charge at Melqart, but Smith self does not attack. "Hoh? To take on the form of a dragon when facing the vanquisher of the dragon king, your bravery is noted. However, minions like those need to be fought off with minions. Here, let me call upon my own!"

An unpleasant buzzing starts to ring, as a black mist approaches. Those are thousands of Melqart's subject, a swarm of locusts associated with his name of Beelzebub. The black swarm starts to crash into the warriors, eating away at the bodies while preventing to be squatted.

Meanwhile the draconic king starts to charge at Melqart, his fangs opened to swallow his enemy whole. He glides majestically through the air, at it looks almost natural that it will rip his enemy to shreds. The storm god on the other hand seems to think differently, chanting words of dragon-slaying to fight his opponent:

"From your throne of kingship you shall be driven, from the seat of your dominion cast out." Melqart brandishes his clubs, and with graceful, almost dance-like movement he closes in on the dragon. "On your head be Ayamur, between your shoulders Yagrush. May Horon split open and smash your head, and Anat thy skull! {4}"

The lightning-clad club strikes Smith's head, empowered by the words of dragon-slaying. Smith staggers, his charge interrupted. Melqart takes this opening to deal another blow to what can be anatomically called the neck of the snake, followed by another to the jaw. In a clobbering rush the storm god deals large amounts of damage to the snake, who falls down in pain.

"Reveal yourself like a roaring bull, a snake with many heads, a goat of thunderous trampling, or in the shape of a lion spitting flames. Go, wild beast, and neigh and bark and grunt and roar and burn!"

The ground in front of Bacchus turns red, akin to a dangerous flame. From that ground rises a monstrosity akin to a hellish beast: A twenty-meter tall lion, with the horns of a bull, a snake as a tail, and a goat's head on the back. It's one of the most famous monsters in Greek myth, the legendary chimera!

This monster is the demonized side of Bacchus, just like Beelzebub is for Melqart. A wicked creation fused from all animals under Bacchus, its entire body oozes with evil energy.

Melqart however laughs, his jolly but bouldering tone resonating through the air. "Kakaka! Interesting! Now that is a worthy monster to hunt! God of wine, allow me to enjoy myself a little!"

John Pluto Smith, who is still in his draconic form, finds himself grabbed by his wings, as he gets thrown at the giant chimera. The lion head lets out a bellowing roar, shattering all windows in the area and lifting up the body of the gigantic snake with pure lung power. The shout causes Smith to fly right over the chimera's heads, and quite far away from the battlefield. Bacchus' beast charges at Melqart, who is more than willing to take it on.

The god of wine meanwhile starts chanting new spell words of power, but he finds himself interrupted as the storm god speaks new words, now having a clash with the goat head of the chimera to see who has the most powerful lightning. "Battling this underling, it gives me such joy! However, let's not forget you, wine god. If I deal with your divine beast, let me call upon my own servants to entertain you!"

The swarm of black locusts has finished eating the army of giants, and is now swarming to Bacchus' place. He has to abandon his own chant, and hastily focuses new words for his own defense.

Zap! Thunder strikes from the sky, but it's not the power of Melqart. If it were, it wouldn't strike him along with the Chimera and the locusts, hurting the former two and completely obliterating the latter. Instead it comes from one of the rooftops, where a single feminine voice complains about what's going on:

"And here I thought that my holiday couldn't get worse." There stands Sayuki, though now dressed in an altered version of that wolf's armor, with the stone of water at her side. It has to be said that the movie makers are pretty good with CGI and their tricks to replace Shizuka with her actor. "Bacchus, it seems that my fears were real. You completely failed to stop the cultists."

"Ey, Sayuki! I see you're dressed to impress!" The locusts have been destroyed, and Bacchus is free to act. He could call upon another of his powers, but instead he complements his ally on her outfit. Understandably, Sayuki shuts him up immediately.

"Bacchus, where's that idiot king?" the wine god points to the distance, claiming that he is very far away. Sayuki groans at that news, before turning to the storm god: "And greetings to you as well, unknown god. Tell me, who is the cause for all this destruction in the area?"

Melqart is a bit busy at the moment, ripping out the tail of the chimera while also telekinetically guiding the clubs to strike the snake head, but he still has it in him to formally greet back. "A third being of such power here? Kukuku…" Melqart chuckles to himself, though the voice is dimmed so that it isn't loud enough to cause a small earthquake with voice alone. "This one's name is Melqart, though there are several other names I will listen to. Girl, as interesting as meeting you is, I do not think it wisely to let myself be saturated by battle. I hold no qualms against you, so be free to leave the battlefield. Do not worry for this city, I shall return to my home after slaying these other two here, though not before making a small diversion to the country of the far east to slay that brat."

Sayuki sighs before putting up her shoulders, not liking her own answer to Melqart's response. "Then I should say sorry, but I cannot allow you to do that. Most likely you talk about my home country of Japan and the other king residing there, and I don't appreciate destructive interlopers."

"In that case I shall overindulge myself a bit! Fighting two kings and a god at the same time, hoho, even I might be challenged for once!" Melqart chants new spell words, while continuing to fight the chimera. The spell is akin to the one he used to call upon the swarm of locusts, but this time there is no black mist approaching. Instead the sky above the chimera turns pitch-black, which is a good indicator for what he plans to summon:

A total length equaling the chimera; Long black leathery wings, with a white skull on top of each of the wings; A long and spiky stinger which could cause death with even the smallest of scratches; A hairy but nimble body, functioning at lightning-quick reflexes; a pair of jagged mandibles and a thin proboscis, both looking very capable of killing anything; a pair of large insectoid eyes shining in all sorts of colors capable of looking everywhere; All of that forms together in the most feared kind of creature:

A gigantic bug.

Ew.

Ew ew ew ew.

Sayuki looks with absolute disgust at that monster, knowing fully well that she has to deal with it. It was even worse for the actual eight king, who may not be entomophobe but still doesn't feel comfortable with insects, especially when they are this size. That beast might be partially responsible for why Shizuka barely slept for three days after the battle was over.

The insect flies up, knocking over the building Sayuki is standing on and crumbling it to dust. The younger king is forced to move, and decides to change her own arena to a place with less deities.

This leaves the two gods alone, who continue their fight. Melqart has rid the divine beast of two of his three heads, but Bacchus lands on the chimera's back too. Melqart stands near the lion's head, the only one remaining, while Bacchus is standing near the rear.

"Well then, king of the gods, mind if take this battle a bit more seriously? I cannot keep on sending minions at my enemy, doing so would leave me with a bad image."

"Indeed, those words are true. Then you challenge me, a king of war, to a duel? Interesting, I accept!"

Melqart rushes at Bacchus, but quickly finds his movements sealed. From the back of the beast grows a large batch of ivy, entangling all around the Phoenician king.

"Still playing by your old tricks?"

"Of course!" Bacchus starts to grin, explaining the situation: "You see, I'm not really that strong. I have a lot of fun authorities, but they're not really useful for combat. If I were standing here alone I would probably lose. However, since when did I say you are fighting just me?"

The screen cuts to a half-destructed flat, which has barely survived the impact of a crashing dragon. Standing in front of it is everyone's favorite superhero, his gun raised at the camera. The camera turns to show that he is not aiming at the people in the audience, but towards the giant chimera. A small scope is placed over the revolver, showing that the crosshairs are aimed at Melqart himself.

"One final shot. Perfect aim is crucial." Smith speaks these words to himself, almost in self-hypnosis. The last chamber in his revolver glows, charging energy for the sixth and final shot. If he aims well then this will be the end of this battle. Smith pulls the trigger, releasing a ton of white energy that is aimed at Melqart.

The god himself has clear sight of it too, realizing his mistake. If that hits he'll be in a lot of pain. Worse, he cannot stop it! All he can do is brace himself and hope fate will save him.

…

And for some unfathomable reason, fate does. The Chimera lets our a deafening roar of victory, causing bellowing gales to blow, slightly affecting the dragon bullet and changing it course. If that works, then perhaps there's still a chance!

Melqart uses Yagrush to create even more wind, and this is in fact strong enough to blow the bullet away from him. If Smith was closer he could redirect it, but at this distance of several hundred meters that is impossible.

Worst of all, the bullet is redirected as such that it directly hits Bacchus, throwing him off the chimera and greatly hurting the god of wine. Even Melqart is dumbstruck at how lucky he just was.

Not planning to waste that luck Melqart quickly breaks free, before destroying the final head of the chimera with his clubs. The monster sinks down, dissolving into particles. With this nuisance gone he can finally deal the final blow to the god of wine.

Bacchus lies down on the ground, his entire body hurting. Damn, how could Smith's attack hit him? Were those winds really that powerful? He can only watch as Melqart walks at him, and offers his final goodbyes. Melqarts lifts lightning-clad Ayamur, and swings down to give Bacchus a one-way ticket to the underworld.

Except that he doesn't. Just as he is halfway through the swing he gets struck with powerful lightning, and shout it out in pain. When the lightning clears Melqart is still standing, but his body is somewhat charred from that strike.

Melqart looks away from his beaten prey, and looks in the distance at the direction of the attack. The camera follows, and zooms in on a black giant in the middle of the building destroyed by Smith's impact. The building is burning and disappearing, a result of the fifth king's authority:

[The Archmage]. First of the five transformations. At the cost of sacrificing a large man-made object like a flat, this authority transforms me into a lightning-manipulating giant!

And what for a giant it is! Standing at fifteen meters tall, he is covered in pitch-black flesh and a right foot of obsidian. Horizontal yellow stripes cross his face as war paint, and he is adorned in brightly-colored fabric of red, orange and black, with avian feathers decorating it all. In his left hand he holds a large Aztec shield and in his left a lightning-clad javelin, one of the many that are left in the cylinder on his back.

"To be struck twice with my own domain, I cannot help but think I'm going senile. To think that I forgot all about you, king!" Melqart laughs at the situation in front of him, accepting the challenge of the giant. With a single shout Melqart too grows in size, ending up only slightly shorter than Smith's Archmage.

The giant storm god runs at his target, who in return throws the javelin in his hand. The javelin moves like a lightning bolt, but gets dodged with a single hit from lightning-clad Ayamur. Smith pulls out a short spear from the cylinder on his back, meant for a fight in close-ranged combat.

In a single second the spear gets thrusted four times: heart, head, left shoulder and right lung. The first three blows get nimbly evaded, and the fourth countered with Yagrush.

From the counter with Yagrush Melqart continues his attack, using a leg swipe to make Smith lose balance. To prevent this the superhero jumps up in the air, but that was exactly according to Melqart's plan.

Repositioning himself on his swiping foot Melqart uses his other foot to perform a destructive kick, strong enough to shatter through the Aztec shield Smith is carrying. Using the remaining item Smith has currently equipped he tries to stab Melqart's eyes out, but that too is to no avail.

As Melqart performed his combo of leg attacks he lets go of Ayamur, which flew behind his back and outside of Smith's sight. Now it has shown itself, smashing against the haft of the spear. The spear is not made to withstand forces like these, and shatters as a response. With no weapon to fight Smith finds himself dealt a blow by the other club, and Yagrush smacks right in the archmage's side.

"Kakaka, so this is the limit of a devil king?" Melqart starts laughing, as he throws the weight of his body around to deal another devastating blow. "Though that is natural, of course." Smith tries to counter, but he finds himself lacking in power. "A king is a lone being. The weak bow down to the strong, and the strongest is named king. That is to say, me!"

The duo continues with trading blows, but it's clear who has the advantage. Compared to the ancient dragon hunter, who has obtained battle experience through centuries of fighting, Smith is a complete novice at a battle of pure strength. How could a devil king compare in power to that olden king? No, Smith cannot obtain victory like this.

Smith tries to sucker punch his enemy, but find his sparks of lightning countered by wind-clad Yagrush. "True, you are a human who obtained victory against a god, but against what?" Melqart swings Ayamur the Driver, launching a majestic uppercut that blows Smith's body a few dozen meters away. Melqart calmly walks over to his enemy, who tries to regain himself from that blow, but finds his legs grabbed by the Phoenician god. "A god of the night is but a minor character in comparison to the likes of me!"

Melqart puts the other giant's feet between his shoulders, and starts to spin around. Known in the wrestling world as the giant swing {5}, here we see a perfect execution of that move. He spins faster and faster, until he hits the speed limit and lets his grip go.

Smith's [Archmage] form flies a long distance through several buildings, leaving only destruction in his wake. Unlike the throw he suffered in draconic form now he can stand up and regain himself, as Melqart still only moves in a leisurely pace towards his enemy. However, that there is a weakness that Smith is willing to make use of, as in the corners of his eyes he sees a chance for victory:

He has landed very close to Sayuki, his peer, who has just taken out the divine beast that kept her busy. Of course, that was to be expected. Even though that giant locust is likely one of the strongest divine beasts in the world, it cannot compare to a king. The question wasn't if Sayuki would win, but when.

With her available some new plans open up for the fifth devil king. He calls his peer, asking how many stones she has left.

"There's just my power over fire left." She summons [Fire] into this world, a sign that that is the only power that is still usable.

"Good enough." Smith can use that. That single stone is the tipping point between victory and defeat. "Wait until I say when to use it."

Smith too walks towards his enemy, but with an entirely different attitude from before. "Perhaps you're right, divine king of storms. Between the two of us you hold the greater right to kingship."

Melqart stops for a little, letting out a "Hmm?" as he looks at his opponent. Why would he suddenly admit such a thing?

"However, if you do not behave as a king, then others will rise up and fight against your rule. With you acting as you are right now, it's no wonder that others challenge you for your right!"

"Kakaka…" A loud, bellowing laugh, as the god-king laughs at these words. "So my kingship is wrong? Pah, it's those very words of yours that are wrong! Why can the strongest not do as he wish? It's the right he obtained by his own power!"

"No, that's wrong." The distance between the two is only a meter or fifty, so it will only take a few seconds before they start to fight again in this wrecked Los Angeles. "As we are kings who hold power, we're forced to live by the rules of noblesse oblique. Or as they say, that with the power of a king must also come the responsibility of a king. Someone who does not look after his own subjects will naturally find his people stolen by another king."

"Then compare that responsible kingship to my absolute rule! Show me the stronger of the two!" Melqart chants new spells words for his storm, as the clouds pack even tighter above him. Lightning descends all around the divine king, destroying everything in a radius around him.

Smith simply charges at his opponent, using all his energy to get close to this king. He plans to grab him, and use his final transformation to kill this god.

"Naïve, king, naïve!" Thunder descends from the heavens, and both clubs swing at blinding speeds at Smith. It's such a strong combination of attacks that his body completely disintegrates.

No, wait, that's not true. Melqart admits that a durable body like that of his opponent would leave some trace behind. There's no way that he could've disappeared like that!

The god's words turn true as from out of nowhere his enemy reappears, like a shimmer that turned to life. Before Melqart can wonder what that was he can hear a familiar voice call out to him, cockily claiming that trick for himself.

"Still so certain about your strikes, Melqart?" On the top of a nearby roof stands Bacchus, still heavily wounded and struggling to stand tight. Even so he came out here, to taunt his enemy. "If you had paid even the slightest attention to my strike you would notice that I had already infected you. With madness comes frenzy, insanity, and of course hallucinations!"

Melqart realizes his mistake, the falsehood he just attacked at full power, but finds himself unable to do something about it. His weapons are in mid-swing and going downwards, unable to get up in time to hit America's king. His lightning is too close to hit, and one strike wouldn't be enough to down Smith. He's completely open to his enemy's attack.

"I'll leave the final attack to you, Smith." Bacchus falls on one knee, too exhausted to continue fighting. Using his powers to create a final illusion was the last thing he could do.

"Leave the rest to us kings, Bacchus." Smith hugs his enemy tightly with strong grip, holding him in place with a bear hug. He cannot make an attack from this position, but that isn't where he is going for: "Sayuki, now!"

Upon saying these words the younger kings wastes no time, as she activates the spell words for the final part of her authority: "This fire is radiant and powerful, incinerating all in its way!"

A huge pillar of fire springs forth from the stone, large enough to completely envelop the two gargantuan figures.

"Hooooh!" Melqart screams out in pain, as the flames start to burn him and his enemy away. "A king like you… why… why would you…" Melqart is speechless by this action, unsure how to take this action of his enemy. "Carelessly throwing your life away, what kind of king are you?"

"Incorrect, god-king." With pained grunts Smith speaks, disagreeing with these words of his enemy. "As the devil king ruling over this city, I just performed the greatest of noble deeds. This is my will of sacrifice and obliteration, Melqart!"

"Hmph, even so, I will not die here. To lose against such a kingship, absolutely unforgivable!" Melqart launches thunder down, intending to strike down.

Thunder strikes the two of them, fusing with the flames to lash out even more power on Smith. However, his body starts to dissolve with a final chant of Smith:

"In order to destroy you, let me tell you about my greatness." Smith's giant body starts to dissolve and turn into mist, letting Melqart get hit by the full force of Sayuki's fire. "As the omnipotent one, all citizens exist for my use. The people are my slaves, I am the wind of the night, I rule the earth and the sky, I am the most noble mage!"

My final transformation, the [Flames of Annihalation]. An incarnation of the sun, burning away the enemy with black flames. As a sacrifice, all local rainfall is halted for some time. That, and I sacrifice… myself.

"I am the axe of the night that calls forth termination! The god of creation and destruction!"

The mist turns into black flames, consuming Melqart together with the red flames and the thunder. "Nyooooooh! Uuwooooo!" The storm god screams it out in pain, his body consumed by the multitude of powers. After ten or so seconds the screaming dies down, as the flames die out. Where once stood Melqart now stand a completely charred humanoid. Its entire body is black as soot, baked like a crisp. And John Pluto Smith, America's superhero…

…is gone. He sacrificed his own life to defeat this enemy, dealing the final blow to the Phoenician king: The burned body of Melqart crumbles, his body disappearing like ash in the wind. The thunderclouds disperse, and rays of light shine down on Sayuki and Bacchus' faces. They realize it, that this battle is finally over.

They've won.

-x-

Six days have passed since the battle with Melqart. God and godslayer dealt mortal wounds to each other, successfully slaying each other. As for Los Angeles… it's recovering, busy with repairing the damage from the great clash. The buildings get rebuild, but for those who died the survivors can only mourn.

The funeral for Gabriel Bishop was for the most part empty. Not many knew the mysterious superhero to begin with, who occupied most of his social life with keeping the streets clean of evil. It is a simple grave, not spectacular in any way.

Twenty people or so attended. Most of them were part of the Sorcerous Sacrilege Investigation, who lost their most important member. There are only two people who do not belong to that group, both beings who stand on the same level as the late king.

"Hah… what a holiday." The first one is the eighth king, now dressed in black attire rented for this event. "I just wanted some rest, but it turned out to be quite absurd. I've met several gods, along with a king I had to part with soon after I came to know him. Really, why can't nothing go in the way I want?" It's easy to read that she's annoyed by all this, though there is a hint of sorrow detectable.

"And yet you're still around." The other is of course Bacchus, whose normal happy smile is for once replaced with a somber expression. "You could've simply moved away from this city, and spend the rest of your trip in peace, but you didn't. In fact, why are you still around?"

"And leave the people of this city in your hands? If I left I probably would be so worried I couldn't sleep!"

Bacchus gives a short chuckle, laughing at those words. "Perhaps. Or perhaps you simply liked being with us." Bacchus steps forward, starting to offer a new idea for his friend. "In fact, why not stay together? We've made a pretty good team together, and I think Japan can spare a king. Why not stay here in this city?"

"Sorry, but I'll pass." Sayuki shrugs off that deal, not needing to think over that one twice. "Unlike you I actually have friends and family to return to."

"Hahaha, that's pretty hurtful to say, y'know?" Bacchus playfully acts as if his feelings have been hurt. "But eh, do that if you want. No king is the same. I won't blame you for choosing your own path."

"Of course, I'll do what I want. That's how I obtained kingship to begin with." Sayuki turns towards Bacchus, now giving him the questionable look. "The question is, what will you do? Most of my peers tend to hunt lone gods like you down, so there's not many a place you can freely go to."

"Well, perhaps you are right. Maybe I should go towards my family and friends, just like you did. Since I don't have any family left, and one of my friends is dead, I should go with my other friend. Perhaps I shou-"

"Sorry, but I don't have any rooms for rent back at home." Before Bacchus can finish his proposal Sayuki already denied it. "Though you're still welcome for a short visit."

"Well, that's a bummer. There goes my plan." Bacchus laughs away that plan, and even Sayuki joins in with a small chuckle or two. When the laughter dies down Bacchus gives his serious answer: "But seriously, I plan to stay here. Perhaps I want to protect this city, stop evil cultists and the likes."

"He really rubbed off on you, didn't he?" Sayuki shakes her head, a smile on her face. To think that the bond between god and king has gone so far.

"Well, what can I say? That's what friends do." Bacchus also smiles, reminiscing him who has fallen. The duo look at each other, as they prepare their final goodbye.

Bacchus hugs the young king, who looks rather uncomfortable. The Japanese are not that big on personal contact like that. "Well, see ya, my friend. Don't you dare forget about me!"

"I couldn't forget a guy like you if I tried. Take care. Don't forget that you're always welcome in Japan!" The two give each other a final glance before walking away, each in their own direction, and towards their own goals.

From a nearby hilltop a lone figure watches over these two. A person covered in suit, cape and insectoid mask, the hero of Los Angeles, arisen from the dead. Silently he watched, and now he too turns around. Turning around, Smith flutters his cape over the camera, making the screen go black. A final song plays, indicating that this movie is now over.

-x-

Credits start to roll now that the movie has ended. Several people exit their seats, having enjoyed the movie and hoping to catch the next sub back home. Shizuka on the other hand keeps sitting and urges her friends to do the same, because she knows there is one final scene afterwards:

After the credits end they show not something American, but instead it goes to a Japanese bedroom… or at least Japan-inspired, the bed and nightstands are very European in origin. A bit of movement in the bed can be seen, heavily implying some form of sexual activity. The sliding door on the side opens, where a woman dressed in what could best be described as medieval knight cloth adjusted to modern fashion.

This woman, of slender build with a black bob-cut, kneels down as she enters the room, answering to one of those in the bed: "Milord, the cult we've sponsored has successfully managed to resurrect heretic Melqart. H-However…" The woman starts to waver in her speech, realizing that she is the bringer of bad news. It has always been an unfavourable job, as the rewards for such delivery are unpleasant. "…After his rebirth… he was slain by the American king, John Pluto Smith, who died too in mutual destruction."

In the bed a Japanese young man sits up, much to the dismay of the two girls he's sharing it with. Considering that they are all naked there is an implication that they were just interrupted in their sexual activity. He promises his blonde and brunette that he'll be back soon, before walking nakedly over to the girl. With charm he speaks to the black-haired girl, giving her words of encouragement: "Don't worry about it. It wouldn't do for someone like you to make such an ugly face. Both as a king and as a lover, neither will punish you. But if it's punishment you seek, then let me indulge a bit." Forcefully he gives her a deep kiss, and she quickly accepts and kisses back.

After a long kiss this man stands up, grabs a bathrobe from a nearby chair and walks to the balcony, looking out over a wide river with Japanese architecture on both sides. "If my enemy has already been slain…" He mutters to himself, his words growing in strength and volume. "Yes, perhaps I should bring a visit to the victor. Knowing Smith there's no way he croaks this quickly, so I'm certain I can find him for some fun."

The screen goes black, showing off the name of the upcoming sequel: "Pluto and Bacchus vs. The slayer of Verethragna."

Now the switch in Godou's mind flips, as he realizes just who was supposed to be this guy shown in the hook: It was him. It took the seventh king several moments to process this information. To be compared to, to, to that! A sexual deviant who walks around naked and forcefully kisses girls? Who the hell does Smith think he is for making such a false accusation?!

"Eh, It's quite similar to the [Youth] form." Erica remarks, surprisingly agreeing with what was shown on screen. "For something that John Pluto Smith has never seen before, his accuracy is astonishing."

"E-Erica…" Godou cannot believe that his oldest ally can make such remarks. How is that in any way similar? "How is that figure on the screen in any way similar to me? It's complete rubbish!"

"Godou, though the wording was different, your actions did seem quite alike." Softly Erica mumbles a bit about why the person who is clearly supposed to be Liliana has black hair, but Godou wants to object to other "inaccuracies":

Yet as Godou wants to retort, Mariya seems to make the situation worse: "While this was certainly an exaggeration, the fundament it's built on is quite correct."

"Yes, though it's not accurate compared to the current moment, but it's likely to see development in this direction." Liliana too can see some parts overlap with the current king, though that's not all. "Ten years, twenty years? Kusanagi Godou, as your prime knight I cannot help but wonder when you will act as shown here."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'll always be normal, acting like I am supposed to. That what you see there will never ever happen!" Godou stands up, annoyed at all ridicule. If he wants to do something about it he should talk to the one responsible. Leaving the four girls for a short while he plans to make a short phone call.

Smith is not one to give out his number freely. While Godou does not have that number, he does know someone who can help him come in contact. He has to try a few times to get contact, but eventually a groggy voice answers on the other side of the phone:

"Who needs to make a phone call at half past five in the morning? This better be important." There sounds Annie Charlton, one of the mages who probably knows how to contact Smith. Godou feels a bit sorry for waking her up, but he would rather not postpone this any longer.

"Miss Charlton? This is Kusanagi Godou speaking. Sorry for waking you up so early in the morning, but I need to speak with Smith, preferably sooner than later. I would rather not fly all the way to Los Angeles to speak with him."

"Kusanagi Godou?" Annie sounds a bit surprised, but does answer back politely. "Give me a minute or two. I cannot give you his number but I'll make sure he calls you." With that Annie hangs up the phone, leaving Godou waiting for a while.

After ninety seconds of waiting Godou gets a phone call from an anonymous caller, which he quickly picks up: "Hello hello? With Kusanai Godou, am I speaking with Smith right now?"

"Naturally, the one on this side of the phone is I, John Pluto Smith." Spoken with regal and leading tone, it's quite the difference from the sleepy Annie. "So, my friend and peer, what can I help you with?"

"What the hell is wrong with that movie of yours?!" Godou completely breaks face, feeling no need to speak with any form of politeness. Sure, Smith is probably the only king Godou can build a truly positive relation with, the eighth notwithstanding, but that does not mean that he likes him. That childish superhero, now he completely besmirched Godou's good name! "Why did you depict me in that manner?"

"You mean the hook for the sequel? Hmm, I agree that I had to villainize you a bit to make you fulfil the role of the antagonist, but brought down to its most basic concept it is entirely based on how any mage would describe you."

"How am I the basis for any of that? I'm just an ordinary guy trying to live an ordinary life. What part of me is like that?"

"…" Smith ponders for a while on how to answer that. How do you explain something so obvious? "Do you truly need an answer for that? No, perhaps you cannot see it for yourself. Alec was right, you are quite the hypocrite."

"Hey!"

"Now, as for how the sequel goes… if you want to have any say in it, then your peer recommends that you come with us to Los Angeles. Bacchus would be delighted to have you around, and you could even influence your depiction. If you do accept, please call one of my subordinates so I know you are coming. It wouldn't do for John Pluto Smith to leave a king like you unsupervised."

With that Smith hangs up the phone, leaving Godou alone and frustrated. The mood of the movie has been spoiled, leaving him with a bad aftertaste. Ugh, this feeling will leave him sour for quite some time.

-x-

January 27th, Friday, late evening, Kusanagi residence.

It has been almost a week since the movie of last Saturday, and quite a lot has happened since then:

On Sunday, the day after the movie, the Kusanagi residence was quite surprised to see Kusanagi Godou in a slump. It's been ages since the last time he suffered from some depression or anger that lasted longer than an hour. Neither of them could get out what exactly was the problem, the only clues he gave were "Lies", "Slander" and "Openly publicized".

Shizuka decided to leave him be and focus on the other problem she heard of: Helping Yui's dad to get a job. After making some calls to her mother she managed to get this man a job in the goods transport. Shizuka did not exactly question what was transported, but the act of transporting is standard enough that it cannot be called illegal.

Of course, this only solved the problem of general income. Shizuka did already plan with Yui to make a trip to South Korea, where the duo would spend the golden week together. With the father temporarily jobless there is a decrease in income, causing them to burn through the reserve money Yui's family has spared. At least she needs to obtain more money if such a holiday abroad were to happen.

Sure, Shizuka could simply lend however much she needs, or even extort others out of money using her kingship, but that wouldn't fit. It is better for someone to earn their own money, so they can enjoy the holiday to the fullest. A part-time job is functional, but inefficient. If you want to work purely for the sake of money, it's better to start your own business than to work for a fixed salary.

Luckily for the two of them the perfect opportunity arrived. They caught wind that the Kameido Tenjin shrine {6} would hold a festival on the upcoming Thursday. It's the yearly bullfinch exchange ritual {7}, which means that merchants will be attracted to set up their own stalls. Who is to say that Shizuka can't have her own stall there?

It took quite a bit of preparation to gather all the necessary procedures and equipment. The investments were easy to obtain. Daddy dotes on Shizuka, so he's willing to invest capital, and both siblings have more than enough money to bring in money too. Even Yui invested money in here, from whatever remained.

The harder part was obtaining a stall. There are all kinds of conditions and procedures for setting one up, but most of them were dealt with quickly. Obtaining a good spot was the hardest, considering how little time remains until the festival. Luckily a certain participating organization "suddenly cancelled" for "unidentified reasons". Since mother Mayo is a drinking buddy of the city councillor, the making of a good opportunity like that was settled within an hour by sponsoring a good bottle of wine.

Then came the hygiene and supervision. Someone of Shizuka's age is not allowed to run the stand, there needs to be at least one adult working at the stall. Normally this would be a bit more problematic, as Shizuka would be forced to loan some flunky from her mother. However, a king like her might know a few connections, perhaps a few young-looking adults who are students and can always use a side job.

Sakura and Fuyuhime both were willing to work for a wage of 940 yen per hour, as well as childhood friend Tokunaga Asuka for the slightly lower wage of 850 yen per hour. It's the difference between a high school student and an adult.

But this combination of manpower has another advantage: When five girls, whose apparent ages are between 10 and 16, man a stand on a festival it's certain to attract a larger crowd than a mixed group of workers. If people are buying food purely for the saleswoman then they are still buying food, and thus they are making Shizuka a profit.

The fried noodle stand made a killing, using the appetizing fragrance of the sauce with the lovely hospitality of the girls. Shizuka doubts any other stand made that much money.

After paying everyone their respective piece of the winnings the remaining shares of Yui and herself was a little below 200,000 yen, more than enough for the holidays. And now, one day later, she's using the family computer to look things up on the web to shop for used travel gear. From bags to backpacks to tents to clothing, there's a lot to find. However, one advertisement in the corner of the page interests her, if only because she was involved in it:

Cinema tickets for Pluto & Bacchus. Now that she sees it again she is somewhat interested in the public opinion on that movie. Opening another page she googles for the movie itself, along with its success. What she saw there almost made here laugh out loud, something she could barely supress as she reads what's written there:

Pluto & Bacchus vs. The King of Flies was highly praised by the critics, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it the lowest score, a weighted average of 98%. It is a great start of the 2011 movie business, and a hopeful message for the future.

Box office sales have not been as great. The sudden announcement of this film, along with a lack of advertisement and no previous credentials of the director led to movie ending thirteenth in the box office, only making 7 million dollars while estimations were around 25-35 million for the first seven days.

The only positive for this movie is that if the sequel is of the same quality this could become next year's bestselling movie.

He failed! Bacchus failed! Shizuka cannot believe it. That annoying god finally got some form of righteous karma dumped on him for all he's done!

To be fair, Shizuka cannot say that she hates Bacchus. He's not evil, and with the American king by his side he's also not a menace to the populace. It's quite simply that Bacchus pisses her off. He's the type of guy who forces others into his own pace, much to the annoyance of Shizuka, who cannot steer herself out of trouble. Some retribution is at least deserved.

Yes, that was a good message to hear. With renowned spirit Shizuka closes the tab, marking the end of this chapter of her life. Hopefully the future will be a bit less crazy.

-x-

{1} Siu Mai: A siu mai, also called shumai, is a type of traditional Chinese dumpling, except it originated from Mongolia. It was intended to be eaten as a snack with a cup of tea, but in recent years it found popularity as a starter dish or sometimes even as breakfast.

{2} Aequitas: Roman goddess of justice, equality, symmetry, fairness and honest measures. Wields the cornucopia in one hand and the balance scales in the other.

{3} IDDQD and IDKFA: Classic Doom cheat codes. The former activates god-mode, and the latter gives you all keys, weapons and full ammunition.

{4} Horon and Anat: The former is a lesser-known Canaanite god of destruction who helped Melqart slay Yam, and the latter is a Semitic war goddess who is Melqart's lover and consort.

{5} Giant Swing: A wrestling move in which you spin the body of your opponent around, and then you either let him go or just lower him to the ground. Signature move of WWE wrestler Antonio Cesaro.

{6} Kameido Tenjin shrine: A shrine in Tokyo dedicated to the worship of Tenjin, Japanese deity of scholarship. It's nowadays much more popular to view Wisterias, but that does not decrease the popularity of this shrine.

{7} Bullfinch exchange festival: Known as Usokae-Shinji in Japan. The bullfinch is regarded as good luck in Japan, and protects against fire. At this festival people exchange old carved wooden bullfinches for new ones. This year it takes place on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of Janauary at the Kameido Tenjin shrine.

-x-

And this ends the fourth arc. The movie is over, and it's about time! This was perhaps one of the hardest chapters to write, maybe because I felt that this chapter has a few rushed parts… even though it's the longest chapter yet. Heck, I almost should've used three chapters for the movie.